Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
It’s been a rip-roaring year in politics in Washington, Raleigh and Charlotte. A panel of political experts joins Mike Collins for a recap.
Any hopes of the dust settling after the exhausting 2016 election quickly went out the window.
Since Donald Trump's inauguration, the White House has been embroiled by one head-spinning controversy after another, from the Russia investigation that has resulted in indictments of Trump aides, to the president’s defense of white nationalists as “fine people” following Charlottesville.
Congressional Republicans were unable to deliver on Trump’s promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and are only now coming close to their first legislative achievement with a tax reform bill.
Democrats spent the year unable to flip Republican congressional seats in special elections, but ultimately found unlikely success in deeply-red Alabama. The victory gave Democrats hope and Republicans heartburn ahead of the 2018 elections.
In Raleigh, the new governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, was repeatedly at odds with the Republican legislature. The two sides often went to court over lawmakers’ efforts to limit Cooper’s powers, while the governor’s vetoes were consistently overridden.
Charlotte voters wanted change at city hall, from the mayor’s office to City Council. Jennifer Roberts was turned out after a single term as mayor, and was replaced by Vi Lyles, the city's first African-American female mayor. Millennials, meanwhile, now make up a powerful bloc on the City Council.
We get perspective on another hectic year in politics.
GUESTS
Michael Bitzer, professor of political science and provost at Catawba College (@BowTiePolitics)
Scott Huffmon, professor of political science, Winthrop University (@HuffmonPolitics)
Susan Roberts, associate professor of political science, Davidson College (@profsuroberts)